Teachers of refugee children opening up dialogic spaces across interruptions and change

Abstract

In this research, we examine the understandings of early childhood teachers who are deeply committed to their work with refugee children and families in Türkiye. Using teacher interview data collected over two years as part of a four-year longitudinal ethnographic study, we draw on philosophical hermeneutics as a theory of understanding to analyze how this process unfolds for educators working with refugee communities. We found that teachers demonstrate a fluid process of understanding that upholds the intricacies of forced displacement and supporting refugees across contexts. All teachers try to hold multiple perspectives and recognize the complexity of the situation, foregrounding a critical evaluation of political discourses about refugees and a sense of scarcity about the current realities and economic constraints. Teachers' understandings are determined by four main factors that interrupt their worldviews and experiences with refugee students: anti-immigrant and political discourses, scarcity, sorrow, and the scrutinizing of the notion of belonging. We note (1) the importance of teachers’ understanding processes as both a core and underrecognized resource in supporting refugee students, and (2) the need to foster dialogic and humanizing stances for teachers to understand and adapt to the dehumanizing realities and constant changes that war and forced displacement bring to their classrooms.